Completed Projects

These projects have been completed and are no longer being directly funded by TGIF.

Vermicomposting by Zero Waste Resource Center

Project Description

The vermicomposting bin has been actively processing organic food waste from the Clark Kerr Kitchen primarily, as well as the Crossroads Kitchen, since then. Currently, around ten gallons of food waste are being added to the bin per week, but it has the capacity to increase. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, coordinating food waste pickup while abiding by city and university public health guidelines has been disadvantageous, but we plan to increase the volume of food waste added to the bin once pandemic conditions allow. We have built up a system...

Heated and cooled chairs for comfort

Project Description

Demonstrate the comfort effects of heated/cooled chairs for UCB students, and also their energy benefit, in a total of three campus buildings. The goal is to encourage campus-wide adoption of PCS. The approach is: 1) design and fabricate 10 battery-powered heating/cooling cassettes that attach to chairs on UCB’s purchase list; 2) demonstrate comfort effects for students in a library and a common room in a dorm; 3) quantify the HVAC energy savings potential in one open-plan office space.

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Project RISHI Rainwater Harvesting

Project Description

The first goal for our proposed project is hosting a sustainable design and development-focused summit where we will invite UC Berkeley students from diverse backgrounds. This will serve as an opportunity for Berkeley students to apply their skills and knowledge about sustainability to a real-world project, and to raise awareness about water-insecurity projects, development, and technology. Through collaboration with students and organizations across campus, we will redesign our RH system and implementation process, improving their longevity, cost-efficiency, and...

The Role of the Underground to Realize a Zero-Carbon UC Campus Energy System

Project Description

The overall goal of this project is to determine whether geothermal is a viable decarbonization energy solution for UC Berkeley and to engage graduate and undergraduate students in the research and the subsequent decision-making and the real application of this technology on campus if it proves feasible. The project will assess the role of the UC campus underground to meet the zero-carbon target.

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Summer Agroecology and Sustainability

Project Description

This project seeks to maintain the functionality of Berkeley Student Farms during the upcoming summer, when we expect volunteer numbers to decrease and gardens to be left unattended; last summer we averaged 3 volunteers per workday compared to 62 in the fall. Through the support of TGIF, BSF aims to hire 5 summer Garden Managers who will continue the essential farm work needed to maintain critical garden operations: growing organic produce, leading student volunteers, coordinating food donations, and maintaining our compost systems, as well as renovating our...

Circularity

Project Description

Circularity fills this void by providing environmental justice learning materials for free -- centering accessibility and actionable steps towards incorporating EJ fundamentals into everyone’s work. In this way, campus organizations have access to readily available tools that move past basic education and engage all students on campus with concrete environmental justice organizing and action, allowing for collaboration that leads to impactful projects. We will provide this access through a free social app, recurring guides available for purchase, and a website,...

Bechtel Terrace Technological and Educational Rooftop Garden

Project Description

The goals of this project are to pilot new technologies for rooftop gardening and to enrich educational experiences in environmental sustainability at Cal. The pace of research in the science and engineering of rooftop gardens has increased as urban agriculture has become increasingly popular over the last decade. These technologies have the potential to contribute in important ways to more green and equitable cities. A successful rooftop garden pilot study at the Bechtel Terrace site would be the first demonstration site at UC Berkeley for rooftop...

Social Impacts of Development on Treasure Island/Below the Bridge Documentary

Project Description

We want to make a documentary on the transformation of Treasure Island from a historical sacrifice zone to a site of intense development and gentrification. We are interested in the impacts that the development plan will have on current residents of the island, as well as businesses and organizations located there. We recognize that this case is likely one of environmental injustice, as the low-income, underserved, predominantly African-American and Latinx communities are going to be the first to face the repercussions of this gentrification. Our documentary will...

Supporting Essential Operations at SOGA and UC Gill Tract Community Farms

Project Description

The project has three main sections. (1) Part of the grant would go towards covering a portion of the Student Organic Garden Association’s water bill. Currently, the Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management (ESPM) covers half the bill and Professor Tim Bowles’ Berkeley Agroecology Lab covers the other portion. Having the Agroecology Lab help cover this expense has become a financial burden on them with their increasingly limited budget. Increasing SOGA’s economic self-sufficiency is the only way they can continue to distribute agroecological...

ASUC Eco-Office Stipends

Project Description
The ASUC Eco-Office is comprised of 7 departments, including Pour out Pepsi, UC Green New Deal, Environmental Education, Environmental Justice Campaigns, Eco-Community Development, Social Media & Graphics, and Legislative Affairs. Each are headed by directors who coordinate and organize their respective departments. The directors are all undergraduate students who are passionate about sustainability and environmental justice and have chosen to lead the projects that they are working on. The Head of Staff position is adjacent to the director positions as they...